Justice Served
by limeorcoconut
Summary: After six people are killed the team is called in on a local case. What happens when the case becomes more personal than any of them could have imagined.
1. Prologue

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds **_

Prologue

Darkness descended across the cracked pavement as the sun sank below the horizon. A light breeze whistled in his ears as he jumped over an upturned garbage can before picking up speed. Hotch struggled to catch his breath as he ran through the alleyway, the unsub only mere meters in front of him. The unsub was agile, moving easily around the many obstacles that lay in her path. Her heels clicked on the pavement as she ran, matching the steady beat of Hotch's breathing. Hotch was quick but the unsub was quicker and Hotch could feel himself slowly falling behind her. He kept running though, it had been a long week of sleep deprivation and dead ends, there was no way in hell he was letting this unsub get away.

They had read and reread every detail about the case, and yet never had they considered that their unsub would be female. Now however, there was no doubt in Hotch's mind that the unsub he was currently chasing through the dark alley was indeed a woman. She was tall and slender, her dark hair flowing behind her as she ran.

He turned the corner of a building nearly running smack dab into a tall, wire fence. His eyes climbed the fence to where the unsub was nearing the top. Hotch grabbed her boot, tugging hard, causing her to tumble on top of him, both hitting the ground with a loud crash.

He grabbed her wrists and rolled her over unto her back, snapping the cuffs on her with practiced ease. He pulled her from the ground turning her towards him, and for the first time in his life, Hotch was speechless.

Hotch paced back and forth in front of the interrogation window, trying to calm himself before he entered. He wiped the beads of sweat from his brow as he prepared to face her. He sighed as he pushed open the door to the interrogation room, tension oozing from the walls as he sat down across from their latest unsub.

Hotch looked up at her, her dark eyes glued to his as she followed his every move. He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms across his chest, clearly uncomfortable. He had no idea where to start, what to ask. If he was being completely honest with himself, she intimidated him.

She sat, a perfect mirror image of him, slightly slouched with her arms crossed. Her face remained stoic and unreadable, but she couldn't stop her foot from taping the floor rapidly, a nervous habit she had picked up long ago. She was disappointed in herself. She had planned every murder to the last detail, made sure that nothing could go wrong. She raised her eyebrow at him urging him to say something, but he remained silent. She moved her gaze from him to the one way window. For a brief moment she wondered who was standing on the other side, wondered if they were looking at her with the same disappointed face as Agent Hotchner was. If only she hadn't slipped up, life could have gone on like normal. She cursed herself internally as she refocused her gaze on his. If anyone could get her out of this mess it was him.

Hotch was halfway tempted to go find Morgan and make him do the interview, but he couldn't. This was his job and this was his team. He felt responsible in a way. Responsible for the fact that she was sitting in front of him right now, that he hadn't questioned her about her change in behaviour, or her constant fatigue. This was somehow his fault, and he needed to fix it. He needed to make sure the woman in front of him wasn't destroyed. But what could he do? Unable to put the questioning off any longer, he asked what he had been dying to know since he had handcuffed her.

"Why did you do it Emily?"

**A/N: **So I have rewritten this prologue about a million times and I'm still not sure I'm happy with it. Please let me know your thoughts and I will try to have the next chapter up as soon as possible :)


	2. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds **_

_** I didn't get a chance to respond to the reviewers so I shall thank them now. Thank you to Rugbygirrl, mcleagan, miaa29 and Nena Cero. Your reviews are always much appreciated **_

Chapter 1

3 weeks earlier

Her heels clicked rhythmically on the cement sidewalk as she made her way down the quiet street, the rustling leaves her only company. The street was lit with a few street lights, some flickering and others burnt out all together. She didn't bother to pay any attention to her surroundings; she had walked this path enough times before to know it by heart. She kept herself solely concentrated on the brick house at the end of the street, the windows darkened as bedtime had come long ago.

She walked up to the rotting, wooden fence that surrounded the property and threw her bag over its top before taking a quick look behind her. After making sure the coast was clear she shimmied her way over the fence landing with a loud thud on the other side. She winced in pain as her ankle landed funny and cursed her clumsiness before picking up her bag and making her way through the back door of the house.

The floor boards were old and dusty and creaked with her every step but she was unconcerned, she knew that the owner of the house slept like the dead. She wandered up the back staircase like she had many times before in preparation for tonight. She had spent days planning this, making sure that she knew the man's schedule, knew the layout of his house so that absolutely nothing could go wrong.

She stepped up beside his bed and stared down at the sleeping man, snoring softly with a touch of drool at the corner of his mouth. He seemed so innocent, sleeping peacefully but she knew better. She had seen the terrible things he had done, the body's he had mutilated and yet he had gotten away with it. He had gotten away with it every single time and it angered her. Seven women raped and killed, seven women who would never see the light of day again. How was it that someone so dark and evil was able to roam the streets, acting as though he had done nothing to deserve punishment?

She thought about waking him but deemed it unnecessary. The kill for her had never been about seeing fear in her victim's eyes, or getting some sort of sexual arousal, for her it was all about making sure that justice was served. She pulled the knife from her coat pocket and made quick work of slicing his neck.

Knives were messy but they were also quiet, which was what she preferred. She felt his warm blood run between her gloved fingers as she looked down at her victim's face which was slightly illuminated by the moon. She felt a small smile tug at her lips as she slid the knife back into her pocket. She walked back down the creaky stairs and let herself out the back door. She felt a yawn escape her lips and decided she had better get home to bed. She had to be at work in a few short hours and had yet to sleep. It was worth it though, because justice had been served.

**A/N: **I know its short but I just wanted to take a short chapter to introduce you to Emily's mindset. I will try and make the future chapters a little longer. Also don't forget to review!


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